Battle of Denain

The Battle of Denain marks a decisive turning point in the war. Villars, thanks to perfect reconnaissance and local complicity, crosses the River Scarpe and surprises the Allied camp at Denain, held by an isolated Imperial corps. Despite Allied numerical superiority in the region, Villars neutralizes the camp, forces the general withdrawal of the Imperial army, and reverses the dynamics of the conflict in Flanders.

By 1712 France was at the end of its tether: ruined finances, defeat upon defeat, and the Great Winter of 1709 had drained the kingdom. Since Malplaquet the Anglo-Austrians held most of the northern fortresses and the road to Paris seemed open. Louis XIV needed a military success in order to negotiate as something other than a beaten man. Villars commanded the last available army against Prince Eugene of Savoy, entrenched along the Scarpe with his main camp at Denain.

Villars mounted a feint: he made as if to march on Landrecies, where Eugene stood, to force him to thin out Denain. The manoeuvre worked. At seven in the morning the French infantry was at Neuville-sur-Escaut; the assault went in at one in the afternoon, sappers leading to breach the palisade. The allied troops gave way to panic and the bridge collapsed under the weight of the fugitives, drowning hundreds.

The French left 880 dead and 1,186 wounded, the Allies 6,500 killed, wounded or captured. This unlooked-for victory reversed the diplomatic situation: France ceased to negotiate as a loser and obtained far better terms at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Denain remains in French military memory as the battle that saved the kingdom when all seemed lost.